Support, advice, and distractions for struggling writers
Category: Distractions
These posts are just distractions from the stress of writing. They include funny stories, photos, jokes, puzzles, book recommendations and reviews, etc.
Happy Friday, everyone! This week started out pretty stressful for me but now I can kick back and relax for a little while (until boredom seeps in and I go through the “I want to do something but I’m too tired” struggle). With the summer solstice just around the corner–and my birthday!–I’ve decided to base today’s writing prompt on Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day”.
This classic piece by the ingenious Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite science fiction short stories. It’s good, old-school science fiction which we’d now see as an amusing–albeit a bit depressing–fantasy, considering what we’ve learned about our galaxy. I won’t tell you much since I don’t want to give anything away but I’ll focus on the element of the story which is important to this prompt.
“All Summer in a Day” takes place in a colony on Venus (like I said, more fantasy than science fiction nowadays considering what we know about Venus). In this story, Venus is bombarded by constant rainstorms and the sun only shows for one hour once every seven years. You can read the story in its entirety here.
Today’s prompt is based on this concept. As usual, the prompt is pretty straightforward:
Imagine that, as in “All Summer in Day”, you only got to see the sun for one hour once every seven years. What would you do? How would your disposition change? Would you be scared of the sun, even understand what it is? What would you do if someone deprived you of that hour of sun?
The reason for the sun’s cycle can be due to the planet you’re on, a curse put on you or your society or the world, some new form of incarceration, etc. Be as creative as you want. The important thing is to focus on how it would affect you as a human.
Jot down whatever comes into your head as you contemplate this scenario. Spend about five minutes on this. When you’re done, turn your notes into a short story or poem. (Try to not come too close to Bradbury’s story!) You can make it science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, whatever you feel fits your notes.
I know that this idea may seem like a stretch of the imagination but that’s the point. This exercise will make you think about yourself and your relationship with your surroundings in new ways. You may also walk away with a new appreciation for the simpler things in life (although I personally still hate the sun when it’s 100+ degrees outside).
Take heart, fellow writers; the weekend is nearly here. Only today and Friday to go. Considering everything I’ve done this week, I’ve decided to post some more lighthearted material and offer up some of my old work again. This one is called “Peahen”. Like the first one, this poem is from my undergrad poetry portfolio. It grew from an attempt at a prose poem and I’m not sure if it’s any good. On top of that, it morphed into an expression of anxiety, judgment, and dating, so it hits a raw nerve for me. I’ll let you decide its quality.
Without further ado, I present “Peahen”:
Peahen
A million violet eyes encircled me
Their feathers spread in full display, unfurled like ball gowns gliding across a flawless wood floor. There were necks of lapis lazuli and scaly emerald. One had ghostly feathers, another the ashy feathers of a duster. They strut with bobbing necks. Their onyx orbs bore down on me— pure, deep oblivion. The eyes closed in tighter, and tighter; peach and golden beaks, cactus-needle claws ripped through vulnerable flesh. Rusty blood oozed through open wounds, their jeweled fans swept air from my lungs.
Thank you for amusing me. I hope that you all find a little encouragement in the fact that everyone has work that they’re not so proud of, and I’ll make certain to continue to remind you of that for as long as there are writers who are discouraged by their harsh self-criticism.
If you have any old work that you’d like to share, be sure to post it in the comments below. You never know what might pull another writer out of the depths of despair or inspire the next bestseller.
As you may have noticed, I’ve been reading an eclectic variety of works lately: Cisneros’s short stories on the Chicano/a and Latinx experience, Watson’s erotica, Chandler’s Christian memoir, and so on. At the moment I’m reading a controversial book about economic disparity. (The review for that will come at a later time.) I know that this list seems rather random. If I had read this as someone else’s reading list, I’d think the same thing. However, there’s a reason why I’m reading diversely–to this degree–and it’s not just because I have a book review gig on Fiverr. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a bonus but it’s not the only reason.
Here’s some more Seuss wisdom for the ages. The more you expand your circle, the better-rounded you’ll be.
I have always sung the praises of reading diversely. The problem is that I’ve struggled to put my money where my mouth is, especially for the past couple years. I’m a fantasy fanatic, sometimes delving into science fiction, Gothic horror, and the occasional historical fiction or self-help/inspirational text. My tastes just lean that way.
It’s OK to have your specific tastes–great, even, since you’ll be able to narrow your search for new books a little better. Still, reading diversely can have numerous benefits for you both as a writer and a person.
As I indicated in my first post on genres, I hate when people restrict their reading choices due to genre preferences. You have no idea what you could be missing. Different genres can teach you about different aspects of writing. For example, genre fiction as a whole (fantasy, science fiction, romance, horror, etc.) focus on plot. Literary fiction, on the other hand, relies on character development and narrative voice. Fantasy can teach you about world building, horror about suspense, pedestrian fiction about simplicity of plot and the emotional gamut, and so on. You can learn something about every aspect of fiction no matter what genre you read, but you learn more the more widely you read.
You can also increase your empathy towards and understanding of groups of people whom you otherwise would not associate with or wouldn’t ask about their experiences. George Eliot, in The Natural History of GermanLife, claims that art is “a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow man beyond the bounds of our personal lot.” Literature, as a form of art, allows us to witness those experiences which we will never have, contact those people whom we will never be able to reach, and amplify experiences we’ve had in order to gain a better understanding of them.
I would personally be too nervous to ask a Chicano/a or Latinx individual about their experiences because I’d be afraid of offending them. With Cisneros’s work I can get a glimpse into the lives of such groups and cultivate a better understanding of their struggles not just as a culture but as real human beings. (These days it seems that people have to reminded that people of other cultures are still human beings.) I would also never be able to understand the experiences of Christians if it weren’t for books like Chandler’s because I am not Christian and most of the people in my life aren’t, either. The more diversely I read, the clearer (albeit more complex) my view of the world becomes.
Reading diversely can make you a well-rounded writer and a well-rounded person. We may not want to read certain works because they offend us or we strongly disagree with them. Odds are we won’t mesh perfectly with every book we come across. That doesn’t mean we should entirely close ourselves off from them. That’s the kind of closed-mindedness that leads to censorship, challenged books, book burning, and misinformed conflict. Our world and our writing won’t get any better if we don’t open ourselves to new ideas.
In middle school, one of my Literature teachers assigned us the aptly-titled No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman. It’s been many years since I last read this book and yet it has stuck with me. One reason is the overall quality of the book. It has a wide range of dynamic characters, the plot is engaging, and the narrative voices (it switches perspectives most chapters) are absolutely hilarious. The other reason has more to do with a thread in the book which always appears in the title: dogs dying in “classic” literature. As a dog lover, I can emphatically agree with “no more dead dogs.”
I understand why the “dead dogs” trope is used so frequently. It tugs on the readers’ hearts, provides an opportunity for character development, comments on the cruelty of mankind, etc. Nevertheless, I’m more than a bit tired of it. Old Yeller, Sounder, and Where the Red Fern Grows are just some of the many examples out there. More recently, A Dog’s Purpose follows the journey of a dog’s soul through multiple lifetimes, so of course a dog dies! Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed Where the Red Fern Grows and I cried during Old Yeller, but that doesn’t mean I want to anticipate it every time a book or movie features a dog.
Today’s writing prompt is about breaking that mold. Simply put, I want you to write a short story, poem, personal essay, whatever about a dog or which prominently features the dog. In this piece the dog cannot die. Obviously all dogs die eventually. For this prompt, you cannot depict or allude to the dog’s death in your work.
It may not seem that difficult but this trope exists for a reason. It’s the easiest way to utilize a dog as a character, and it takes some real thought to give them a different plot line.
If you come up with something that you think has promise, please feel free to share it in the comments. I would love to read some good fiction, poetry, or even non-fiction in which the dog does not die.
Warning: The book reviewed in this post may contain triggers for victims of abusive childhoods and relationships, as well as sufferers of depression, a fear of flying, and weight issues. This book is also heavily and overtly influenced by the Christian belief. Please proceed with caution if any of the above may cause offense or trauma to you.
I want to start this post by mentioning once again that I’m not Christian. I am agnostic with mixed beliefs. As such, I do not share most of the religious views expressed in this book. I am not trying to push Christianity on anyone, nor am I trying to discourage any of my readers from the Christian faith if that is what they believe. However, in my efforts to become a well-rounded person, I am going down yet another new road. Today I’m reviewing A Love Story: How God Pursued and Found Me, An Impossibly True Story by Samantha Ryan Chandler.
As with the sex in Watson’s Blackmail, I recognize that religion is generally not a comfortable topic to discuss. Nevertheless, religion is part of the human experience and we cannot avoid it, perhaps especially in literature.
Readers of all religious backgrounds visit this blog. I expect that everyone will conduct themselves maturely, intellectually, and respectfully in any discussion of this book. Any trolling or bullying of this blog’s contributors or other readers will result in disciplinary action against the offending parties.
That being said, I very rarely read books like this one. Part inspiration, part self-help, and part religious memoir, I have yet to encounter another narrative like it.
In this memoir, Chandler writes about her experiences growing up in a place she calls “Nowhere, Louisiana,” her adult years, and her bumpy path towards God. She details her traumatic childhood, her dynamic relationships with family and friends, and religious exploration which took her all over the world. All the while she conveys her painful life lessons in the hopes that she can help readers find their way.
This book is hopeful and uplifting for Christians and non-Christians alike. It starts rather slowly and, for the first few sections, my attention drifted in and out. The first few sections seem loosely connected. She admits throughout the narrative that she wrote the book for herself–or, rather, God wrote it through her for her benefit–but I still felt, as a writer and a reader, that the information about her childhood and experiences with her family could have been presented in a more reader-friendly manner.
Chandler best caught my attention when she relayed her childhood experiences in Louisiana with her family. The story of her mother tugged at my heartstrings. My heart went out for her mother even as I condemned and was horrified by her violent acts against her husband and daughter. More noteworthy is the narrative voice Chandler assumes during these sections. She becomes a Southern writer with a unique voice, although still reminiscent of other female Southern writers such as Flannery O’Connor. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my own Southern relatives.
By the time that Chandler starts discussing her wonderful work with sick children, she has fully captured my attention. She then moves into the true heart of her story: her divorce from her third husband, whom she calls “Darth Vader.” In my opinion, Darth Vader should be offended by that comparison.
Her storytelling had me tangled in the narrative of her divorce until the very end. I wanted to make sure that she got a satisfying ending, and I was not disappointed. The sections added after she had already started the publication process provided much-needed closure for me as a reader, having several loose ends tied.
Samantha Ryan Chandler: Mother, Christian, writer, survivor
The most important part of Chandler’s book, however, is the main lesson behind it. Her writing is, as the title implies, aimed at Christians and convincing them to trust in God even in the darkness. Still, I think that non-Christians can find a lesson here as well. If nothing else, Chandler conveys the message that everything happens for a reason. Even our worst nightmares, the darkest part of our lives, happen to make us stronger and mold us into the people we’re meant to be. I think that anyone could benefit from being reminded of that.
I can understand if you don’t want to read this book because of all the Christian references. I had my reservations as well. However, I still think it’s worth reading. In a time when so many “Christians” use scripture to condemn people, Chandler uses it to lift people out of despair. If nothing else, I suggest reading this book to remind yourself that everyone has trials and low points in their lives; the important thing is that we choose to see life through and come out of the turmoil stronger and wiser.
You can read Chandler’s book for free on Kindle Unlimited, or for $3.49 as a regular Kindle user, as well as it being available as a hardcover and paperback on Amazon. Also check out her website for more information on her writings as a Christian author.
Have any suggestions for books I should review? Any that I should read to broaden my horizons? Drop a line in the comments or contact me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.
It’s no secret that writing can serve as a form of therapy. All writers vent their emotions, thoughts, dreams, concerns, and frustrations even when they’re writing fiction. It’s simultaneously wish-fulfillment and the worst-case scenario. Many times writers know what they’re doing; sometimes it’s why they started writing that piece in the first place. However, just as often writers don’t realize the sort of messages that they’ve created. What about those subconscious choices? Should writers pay them any heed? Or should we avoid such self-evaluation?
I’ll admit that I often engage in self-evaluation during the later stages of editing. I can’t help it. I’m curious as to how my brain works and my writing provides the most direct path to my thought processes, not to mention it’s my only chance at viewing myself almost from an outsider’s perspective or as close as I can get to that. What I’ve found thus far has left me amused–sometimes bitterly–and often wondering what is wrong with me.
That’s the interesting thing about writers; we’re all off in our own ways and it seeps into our work. But should we try and reach the source of that uniqueness by analyzing our own works? Perhaps and perhaps not.
On the one hand, self-evaluation can help us to grow as writers and as people. We may notice trends which are overly-used in our work or which are red flags for us psychologically. If we catch the problem early, we can do something about it. We may also notice recurring themes which can have a positive impact on others and ourselves. If we spot the potential when it’s first starting to sprout, we can cultivate it.
On the other hand, we may not like what we discover. I’ve learned that I can have a rather pessimistic, or at least bitter-sweet, view of romantic relationships. That view is also on my mind a lot and intertwines with my work even if the focus of the piece isn’t romantic love at all. That’s not exactly something you want to realize about yourself.
Then we put ourselves in a rather sticky situation: should we try and chance ourselves as a result of the self-evaluation? If we do, we may lose the spark which makes us writers. If we don’t, we could lose our minds based solely on the fact that we know our minds work like that. We’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.
There is no one answer that will fit every scenario. Sometimes we should delve into self-evaluation through our writing, other times we shouldn’t. Sometimes we should change and other times we should just accept and embrace who we are. It really depends on the individual writer and his/her situation. Only you know what you can handle and what is best for you psychologically.
Have you ever discovered something intriguing about yourself as you re-read your work? Something funny? Something disturbing? Feel free to leave a comment about your experiences below.
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In their latest version, Disney expanded the Beauty and the Beast story and created new, more complex personalities and social dynamics for our favorite characters.
I love fairy tales, and not just the Disney ones. Don’t get me wrong, I love Disney and their recent takes are worth a long look. However, the classic fairy tales provide stronger lessons for writers. I suppose by now you’re wondering how. How, with such shallow characters and simplistic plots, could these stories teach us about writing in today’s world? How, when they are for children, can they teach us about writing more mature content? The answer is easy: they’re not simple and they’re not just for children.
As an undergrad I took more than my fair share of classes on fairy tales, including a comparative literature course. In these classes I read more than the ones our (American) parents read to us. The gritty originals, non-European tales, and the more obscure of the European stories filled the syllabi.
These classes helped us to read fairy tales as more than the stereotypical image of a “fairy tale.” We examined the stories as symbols of different cultures and time periods. Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, all of these classic tales have been explored in many time periods and many nations. The various versions of the same story or the same archetype reveal the shifting of values and attitudes both across time and geographically.
I’m sorry, I got off-track. I’m so enthralled with studying fairy tales, legends, myths, and folklore for their cultural implications that I get a bit carried away.
I consider fairy tales early incarnations of short stories. They began as oral tales and so were simplified to make them easier to remember, but they’re short stories nonetheless. Plots, characters, themes, they have all the basic elements of a good short story.
The deceptively simple surfaces of fairy tales make them the perfect tool for studying these elements. The plots are straightforward, allowing us to examine narrative arcs; the characters are simple and yet captivating, giving us the bare bones of a good character while leaving room for development; the themes are multilayered, some clearly exposed to the audience and others hiding beneath the surface, teaching us about subtext. Most importantly, whatever we dislike in a fairy tale helps us learn what to avoid in our own writing.
Snow White was only seven when she ran into the forest in the Grimm version. I can’t be the only one who has a problem with that. And the Prince didn’t even know her when he kissed her! How is that OK?
For example, I’m not a fan of most Snow White stories. Some of them, even some older ones, have intriguing additions that others do not but many of them, in my opinion, are frustrating. I despise her passivity. For some deep-seeded psychological reason that I can’t identify, I can get past that flaw in most Sleeping Beauty stories, but I absolutely hate it in Snow White tales. The older I’ve become and the more I study fairy tales, the more I dislike Snow White’s passivity. Perhaps it’s not even her passivity I hate as much as her utter lack of agency.
That’s why, even when a female character is passive overall, I find a way to give her some agency. Sometimes it’s as small as internally complaining about an invasive male or as significant as her ordering a man to get out when he doesn’t get the hint. I’m tired of passive female characters having no agency, probably because I worry that I’m so passive that I let myself get stepped on, and so I work to incorporate female characters with agency, whether they are passive or aggressive.
Fairy tales may be considered “children’s stories” nowadays but they haven’t always been that way. They were once oral tales told by adults to keep themselves entertained while working and were later adapted to serve as cautionary tales for children. They can teach us a lot, and not only about the times and cultures from which they come. They’re worth re-reading as adults and as writers to learn more about the bare basics of our crafts. Besides, they’re entertaining and easy to read, a good break from our everyday stresses.
As I’m working on my end-of-year essay for my Master’s program, I can’t help but feel exhilarated. Stressed, a bit frustrated, and banging my head against the wall, but exhilarated. For whatever reason I find most–not all but most–academic/essay writing exciting. (Yeah, I’m a geek. I own it.) I’m not alone in my love of academic/essay writing, not even among fiction writers. Edgar Allen Poe wrote essays on literature and writing. Virginia Woolf composed essays as well, most notably her book-length essay A Room of One’s Own.
Sometimes you can combine fiction and essay writing. Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own with a fictional narrator and narrative.
Image retrieved from the Wikipedia entry on A Room of One’s OwnBut what’s the appeal? Why would anyone want to slave over books and analysis, real people and real-world issues, even statistics and other dry facts, rather than letting the imagination run wild in fiction or poetry? I say it’s because academic/essay writing isn’t actually much different from fiction and poetic writing.
What we tend to forget is that academic/essay writing is a creative act. Yes, it can feel very stifling when we’re assigned essay prompts in class and have to worry about writing something that the professor thinks fulfills said prompt. Yet even that sort of academic/essay writing can be creative, if we stumble across a prompt that we’re excited about. That’s where the creativity of academic/essay writing first appears: the topic.
As with anything we write, academic/essay writing becomes its most creative when we are passionate about the topic. We aren’t always so fortunate when we have to write essays for school; I just happened to luck out with my end-of-year essay in that I like one of the prompts and I have many, many thoughts on the book I’m analyzing. However, essays–even academic essays–outside of the classroom can be about anything you want. You just have to be interested in the subject and know something about it.
I personally have a lot of topics which I want to cover in an essay or academic book someday: sexuality and Harry Potter, an extension of my undergraduate critical thesis; the influence of Arthurian romances on the modern soap opera; even the evolution of the word “gay.”
Of course, not everyone who writes essays, even academically, write about literature or writing. My entire world is pretty much books and words. They’re how I understand and navigate the world and how I express my thoughts. It’s only natural for me to gravitate towards analyzing literature and its sociological, historical, and/or psychological impacts. You can write essays on the physical benefits of yoga and meditation, how economic turmoil after World War I served as a catalyst for the Nazi regime, your views on human consciousness, and so on. You can also write personal essays. (I’m not too familiar with these so I’ll leave a link to a Writer’s Digest article on the matter.) The possibilities are endless.
The part of academic/essay writing which requires the most creative effort, however, is the actual writing.
Let’s face it, first drafts are difficult in fiction and poetry; they’re even harder in non-fiction, especially academic/essay writing. The topic you’re writing about may be interesting but you’ll never keep the reader’s attention if your writing isn’t just as interesting.
Length is probably one of the first things we’re concerned about when reading–and writing–academic pieces and essays. As readers, we don’t want to read something tremendously long for fear of being bored. Still, we want the writer to thoroughly cover the subject–if they don’t, it’s not even worth reading. Academic/essay writers must be careful to find the right balance, and this balance is never the same from one piece to the next. We must know what to keep to make our point and which darlings to kill, a creative act which we find in fiction and poetry as well.
As in fiction and poetry, the voice and tone of the work can make or break the essay. In personal essays you also need a narrative arc. Then we have the demons that seem small but can have a huge impact: organization, grammar, sentence length variation, and word choice. Even the most minor error in word choice could put your essay out of the intellectual reach of your target audience.
Academic/essay writing is as much a creative act as fiction and poetry. Neither the topic nor the writing can be boring, especially to the writer. If something is boring the writer, it will certainly bore the reader. Academic/essay writing requires research, thought, and originality. You only need to find a topic you’re interested in and approach it like any other writing endeavor. You never know, you might be able to profit from it. (I had an essay published in the UC Davis Prized Writing Anthology as an undergraduate.)
Warning: The book reviewed in this post contains X-rated content. Please proceed only if you are 18 years of age or older and if you do not object to controversial/explicit writing. Thank you.
I’m taking a new path for this review and turning to a self-published author, Anna James Watson, and her book Blackmail. Be advised that Blackmail is erotica, so there are many “steamy” scenes. I trust that people reading this post beyond the warning are adults, so please conduct yourselves as such in the comments. Sex isn’t always the most comfortable topic but it’s a prominent part of the human experience. As such, we can’t avoid it and we should assess erotica as literature, as we would any other genre.
That being said, I’m not a regular reader of erotica. I do, however, try to read widely and this novel caught my eye. I’m happy it did; the book is much better than I had expected.
Blackmail by Anna James Watson, image retrieved from GoodreadsBlackmail is the first novel in Watson’s The Skeleton Key series. It illustrates the affair among three Yale students: undergraduate students Mia and Tristan and their TA, a philosophy graduate student named Julian. As the title implies, Mia is pulled into Tristan and Julian’s unconventional relationship due to Tristan’s need to blackmail her. As they try to continue life as though nothing has happened, their social circles become more thoroughly intertwined through mutual acquaintances, the philosophy club Y.U.P.S., and a society called The Skeleton Key. What follows is a whirlwind of secrets, internal struggles, emotional upheaval, and, of course, sex.
When I read erotica, I’m looking for more than just smut. I want characters that feel like real people, evolve and change throughout the narrative, and have real emotions and real social dynamics. I want the book to say more than “these attractive people had a lot of sex, often unconventional sex in unconventional places.”
The first several pages of this book are, admittedly, smut-heavy. Mia, Tristan, and Julian also start as rather stereotypical characters: the smart girl who normally doesn’t do this sort of thing, the rich pretty-boy who can’t afford people finding out about his “extracurricular activities,” and the mysterious romantic. I would’ve preferred to see more character development before the erotic side of the novel began, but I suppose in this genre it’s best to start those scenes early. Nevertheless, you see glimmers of real people with desires, limits, goals, and concerns right from the beginning.
The initial “steamy” scene is very well-written and sets the bar high for the rest of the novel. That aspect is consistently engaging and enthralling throughout the narrative, something best read behind closed doors and which I’m embarrassed to admit I really enjoyed. From the sweetly romantic love-making between Mia and Julian to the battle for dominance Mia has with Tristan, these scenes provide the perfect balance between sensuality and tension.
I’m most intrigued by the kind of relationship explored, i.e. MMF. When we encounter books, movies, or TV shows about polysexual/polyamorous/polygamous relationships, they’re most often one man and multiple women. So long as everyone involved is of age and consents, I have no issues with this sort of relationship. Still, the prevalence of MFF over MMF–I can’t even think of another example of MMF without more detailed research–suggests a disproportionate representation of unconventional relationships. It’s refreshing to see the exploration of more types of nontraditional relationships.
Mia may be the main character but, for me, Tristan and Julian’s relationship steals the show. Watson shows the issues of them privately accepting their identities–Julian is pansexual and Tristan is bisexual–while still trying to keep the wrong people from discovering them. Watson heightens the tension by investigating the strengths and struggles Mia adds to their love life and the strains that Tristan’s obsession with The Skeleton Key puts on them. I despise rich pretty-boys and yet I worried for Tristan and his relationship with Julian, as well as felt annoyed by how Tristan approached their joint relationship with Mia. Tristan and Julian put me through an emotional roller coaster, something I didn’t necessarily expect from erotica.
With the introduction of Y.U.P.S. this book becomes erotica for the intellectual. The philosophical debate may not be accessible to everyone. I had to re-read it a couple times to get a good grasp on it. Regardless, I find it exhilarating, as much as (if not more than) the sex scenes. The back-and-forth and Watson’s mastery of altering pace adds tension and excitement to a topic in which some readers might not have interest.
This book is intelligent on multiple levels. One of these levels involves Tristan’s and Julian’s names. The name “Tristan” is most famous for the Arthurian romance Tristan and Isolde. “Julian” derives from “Julius”, as does the name of a very famous character in romance fiction: Juliet. I could write an entire essay analyzing the use of those names alone. Of course, not all of the names in this book are that creative. Mia’s last name, Winters, is rather plain. Tristan’s surname, Masters, is almost too much considering his need for dominance and his social station. Still, these names do not detract from the brilliance behind the naming of the two leading males.
Anna James Watson: mother, wife, intellectual, writer
Image retrieved from GoodreadsThe intelligence of the novel seeps into the subtext. I could go on and on about how this book plays with Sedgwick’s homoerotic triangle and the utilization of a secret society to complement the main characters’ secret relationships. However, such analysis would take too long and is best left to future posts. My main point is that this book is an intelligent erotica, a niche which is often left unfulfilled. As an intellectual, I’m very pleased to see someone address the hyper-sexual potential hiding beneath every smart person, even if that person is unaware of it or isn’t sexually active.
I could say so much more but I’d rather give you a chance to read the book yourself and start a discussion in the comments section. You can get an electronic copy of the book for free on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited or for $2.99 through Amazon’s regular Kindle store. Also remember to check out Watson’s website for information on The Skeleton Key series and to access her blog.
Do you know of a little-known, up-and-coming, and/or indie writer you think deserves more attention? Let me know in the comments below or drop me a line at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.
Happy Tuesday, everyone. I’m still busy with schoolwork and other obligations but I needed a distraction from the heat. (Our AC broke last summer and we live in a part of California where it can reach 100+ degrees Fahrenheit, so I’m not a happy writer…) For that reason, I’ve decided to post a poll asking my readers how their stories start.
I want to know which part of your story usually comes to you first. A rough plot/plot idea? A character? Setting? You can answer all or answer “other” and provide your own option. And please, feel free to discuss the answers in the comments section while you’re at it. You’d be surprised at how helpful it can be to discuss your process–or lack thereof–with fellow writers.
